Sixty Seven Years Too Late
by LEPrecon
Summary: He'd thought that she left forever. He was wrong. Slash! Rated T...just to be safe. And 'cause I'm super paranoid.


**A little oneshot...just thinking. You know, when I should be doing homework and sleeping. So yeah, I sorta dreamed about the idea and couldn't go back to sleep afterwards so here I am! This will probably be uploaded muuuuuch later. I don't know if this is going to be multiple chapters or just one. Read on!**

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_Peggy held a compass in her hands, a little picture of the skinny Steve in her pocket, and four layers of clothes on over her normal army attire. The war was over, thank goodness, but Steve was still gone. The sixteenth mission was booked two days after this one, just in case she hadn't found him. For the past month all her recons had been unsightful, but Phillips allowed her free reign. The war bond campaign had left the Army with money that they didn't need, even with the large scale repairs going on all the world. She trudged through the barren wasteland of snow, binoculars poised at her fingertips, as she scanned the distance again and again, looking for a large gray aircraft. It couldn't be that hard, right? Wrong. A month and all missions were unsuccessful. _

_The wind picked up speed, swirling snow around in the air, and slowing her progress across the frozen tundra. Peggy hiked up her knees and plunged forward through the oblivion of white, doubled over to avoid the brunt of the snowstorm. She shivered, pulling the jacket closer to her body for warmth, though she was wearing enough jackets to be mistaken as a man. Luckily, she doubted anyone was out here, most likely they were at home celebrating with their sweethearts, if not, then with their family. She had long forgotten about that date, but every week she foolishly showed up, hoping that by some miracle he'd be there, smiling and waving for her to join him. Peggy shook her head, why was she thinking about that date anyway?_

_She continued onward for what seemed like an eternity, but in reality only about an hour or so. She was ready to pull out something to eat when she spotted something in the snow. A gleaming badge buried so that it only glinted off they few rays of weak sunlight. _

_A certain pin with six snake like arms posed around a skull. _

_Peggy tore across the snowy ridges of hills and dunes, which made her movements slow and sluggish, but she pushed forward, propelled by the thought of a strange man chasing her. Her breath came in short gasps, turning to ice crystals in front of her face._

_A hidden snowdrift significantly slowed her process, and she was plunged waist deep into a freezing cold mixture of snow and hail. Struggling to get up, she grabbed uselessly at empty air, with no momentum to pull her anywhere, she lay stuck there. She bent her legs under the weight of the white blankets and propelled herself forward, finally pulling herself out of a Peggy sized hole in the ground. _

_She meandered through the tundra, not sure what she was searching for. She had known that this was a bad idea to go alone out in the middle of nowhere, but Stark had forced upon her a radio to call for backup if needed. Another half and hour later, she spotted something in the distance, looking suspiciously like an aircraft in the snow. Steve._

_She began running, not stopping, and running, running, running, not looking back, and she flung off a layer to ease her movement. Peggy had never ran this fast before in her life, not when she was qualifying for the army, not when the team was storming the H.Y.D.R.A. base, not when she rushed to the club to see if Steve was there waiting for her. Not ever like this. She was like a jaguar barely skimming the ground with her toes, all her weight thrusted forward. Peggy was sloppy, she didn't see the crumbling masses of debris scattered around the engine and she fell, crumpling the photo of Steve in her pocket, and plunged headfirst into the empty space under the aircraft. _

_She was sure that Steve was in there, the way that her radio beeped over and over that this was the location where she last received a signal from him._

_A loose outer plate shifted precariously and it swung on it's hinges, metal scraping against metal, flapping like a broken wing in the wind. She tugged on it, the scream of tearing iron made her grit her teeth, and pull harder. Finally it gave in, and the piece dropped to the ground with a loud thud, leaving an opening for Peggy to crawl into. Getting down on all fours, she dragged herself in with her hands, and felt her way around the space. A walkway, covered in dust and dirt, led Peggy into a large spacious area, some parts filled with snow. A thinned portion of ice on the bottom of the ship caught her attention. She knelt down by the round patch of snow, and brushed it away slowly. Her hand touched a cold metal item, and the familiar red white and blue of Steve's shield met her eye. He was here. _

_**He was here.**_

_She dug faster, skin tearing on her hands, bleeding into the snow, staining it pink. _

_She searched with her hands and met an ice cold face, Steve, with his eyes closed and jaw slack. She wanted to savor this moment forever, keep it in her mind and she don't herself to not forget. She held up the mic. to her lips and began to call for assistance. Just when something hard hit her head._

_A chunk of snow landed on her head, and she heard the sounds of exploding items as the ceiling and walls suddenly caved in. Letting go reluctantly of his hand she stood up and looked for somewhere safe to be. The debris fell faster, and she slipped, she __**slipped **__on snow. Peggy hit her head on a railing and dark spots swam in her line of vision. Something warm ran down from her forehead, and she wiped it away hastily with her sweater sleeve. The sound of groaning metal plating was brought to her attention, and she dived headfirst into a storage unit, as the roof bent downward at an impossible angle, trapping her inside. She fought against unconsciousness, she was too close, but the door wouldn't budge. _

_She succumbed to the cold._

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"Hey, Natasha, would you hand me the curler please?" Pepper asked, as the red haired assassin reached over and passed it to her.

"Be careful, it's been charging for ten minutes."

"Thanks."

"No problem." The two ladies bustled around their client, adding finishing touches to the makeup, or spritzing hair spray on her curls, or in Natasha's case, fixing the dress. The two had been this way for the past two hours or so, but that didn't count because they needed to do her nails and give her a proper haircut. Pepper took a step back, and clapped her hands together excitedly. A sparkle appeared in her eyes, the one that Natasha knew well. Something magical was going to come out of this night. Steve would be so surprised when he found out.

"Done!"

Jane stuck her head in, and mouthed a few words, only to be cut off by Darcy who pushed her into the doorframe, frantically signaling for them to come out. The pair helped her into the new shoes, and pulled back her bangs.

A few strains of 'Happy Birthday' could be heard over the hustle of taffeta, silk, and the soft clinking of champagne glasses. A happy burst of laughter called out to the trio, and they nudged her over to the open door. The rest hid behind the wall and watched in awe, excited, yet half nervous.

Wrapping paper was neatly folded on the top of the wooden dining table, and Steve was surrounded by the most eccentric items that Pepper had seen. Save Bruce's, and maybe hers. A giant stack of Captain America comic books were piled from the floor to almost Thor's head, and it swayed precariously. Tony's present was the biggest picture that she'd seen of Captain America, leading the Avengers to battle on that day. A small bow was in Steve's hands, and he was loading it with toothpicks meant for the fruit, at Clint's command. Four whizzed right by her head.

Bruce finally handed over a small black box, after he'd maneuvered over to his teammate's spot, nearly getting nailed in the arm with a vicious Hawkeye, and took in his friend's confused look.

"Don't open it until you Pepper comes in. Got it?"

"Sure?" he answered, unsatisfied with the sketchy reply he'd gotten.

Thor handed over something that looked like a cross between a book and a heavily jeweled miniature treasure chest.

"For you, valiant warrior, to keep your art within." he boomed, and everyone at the table winced. Steve flipped through the pages, all blank, except for the first one. A perfect copy of the drawing he'd done of the circus monkey. That brought tears to her eyes. She shifter her sleeve to wipe her eyes, and tripped over the long dress, barely catching hold of the wall notch. She prayed that he hadn't heard that.

Unfortunately, he did, with the super soldier hearing boost anyway. Steve had turned at the sound of shuffling feet, giving her the chance to look at him properly. Still the same, the blonde hair parted to one side, the strong set shoulders, and the powerful jaw, but those blue eyes, softening his hard expression. Jane walked out, and cued the band to start playing.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome, Virginia Pepper Potts!"

The entire group began clapping, and Bruce couldn't hide his smile, so he stood up and left, choosing to watch from afar. Pepper took this as a cue and pushed her through the door, and Steve's smile dropped straight off his face. He looked down at the black box in his hand. At that time he then knew what it was for.

He walked up to her, and dropped to one knee, hastily pulling off the little red bow, and prying open the box. A simple golden band sat inside, no diamonds, no crystals, just pure hammered bronze. Or was it gold? He couldn't remember. Where had Bruce found this? It was exactly the same as the one he'd meant to give her. No, it was the same, the tiny words inside told him so. '1924'. This was his mother's ring.

A silence followed, after a five second conversation with his eyes and Bruce, he gave in, and turned to look back at her. Steve sighed, set his face, and asked the question that he had always wanted to.

"Will you marry me?"

And her answer was simple, short, and sweet.

"Yes." Her distinct british accent made him want to cry. Loud clapping began from one corner of the room to another, and she took his hand and helped him up, only to whisper in his ear, "Guess you'll still get to step on my toes after all."

He flushed red, and in the spur of the moment, he pulled her close and kissed her.

Then the widows shattered, the door was crushed, and the floor gave out from beneath the team's feet. There was silence, and then a large explosion. Rubble and plaster fell in torrents from the ceiling, and two screams were heard. Then everything went black.

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**Ehem, attention, I have decided to make this a multi-chapter...MWAA HAA HAA. New cliffie. :)**

**~Recon out**


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